WORK has commenced on building the new Otterham and St Juliot Village Hall.

The build was due to commence at the end of last year, after more than £400,000 was awarded from the Big Lottery in June, but due to unfortunate delays outside the control of the committee this date slipped considerably.

The contract for the build was awarded to Michael Vanstone Builders, of Bude, who hope to have the work completed within 28 weeks — maybe closer to 20 weeks given favourable weather conditions.

The new hall is being built alongside the old one, which means the facility will still be available for most of the time.

Once the new hall is completed there will be a period of about a month when the old one will be demolished and removed and a new car park constructed.

During this period there will not be a hall in use but once it opens, it will be celebrated with a community event.

For the full report, and a round-up of the area news and sport, see this week's edition of the Post.